FORMER Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Ricky Vargas believes that 2016 Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz and 2015 Southeast Asian Games boxing welterweight gold medalist Eumir Felix Marcial have the strongest chances of winning the country’s first ever gold at the Olympics next year.

Vargas, currently the president of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) and formerly the Philippine Basketball Association chairman, said Diaz has a 90 percent chance of striking gold in 2021 although she has not yet formally qualified for the Summer Games in Tokyo now set for July 23 to August 8.